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SACRAMENTAL, CEMETERY AND ORPHANAGE RECORDS
GENERAL INFORMATION
The Archdiocese of New Orleans is comprised of eight civil parishes in and around metropolitan New Orleans: Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, and Washington. Records for all other Louisiana civil parishes should be requested from the respective dioceses.
SACRAMENTAL RECORDS:
The archdiocesan archives houses all sacramental registers that end prior to 1920. Some early 20th-century registers that also include later entries still remain in individual church parishes. All current sacramental records (post 1920) are maintained in individual church parishes.
CEMETERY RECORDS:
The archives also houses early records of four New Orleans cemeteries: St. Louis, St. Patrick, St. Joseph, and St. Roch. There are gaps in these records. Current cemetery interment as well as all cemetery ownership records are maintained in the archdiocesan cemeteries office. Access to these records is governed by right-to-know and privacy laws, as well as church policy. Only parish and cemetery staff have access to these records. Certificates are issued to authorized recipients.
All non-current interment records under the jurisdiction of the archdiocesan cemeteries office are housed in the archdiocesan archives. Microfilmed copies of these records are available at the New Orleans Public Library and The Historic New Orleans Collection. Other parish cemetery records remain in the individual church parishes.
ORPHANAGE RECORDS:
Orphanage records (1836 - 1972) of former institutions now under the jurisdiction of Catholic Charities of New Orleans are housed at the archdiocesan archives. These records are not indexed and thus not available for genealogical research by phone, mail, or in person. Orphanage records prior to 1901 are available for aggregate analysis by tally only to scholars whose written applications are approved by the archdiocesan archivist.
Baptisms, marriages, confirmations and funerals were recorded to document these sacred acts; these records were not intended to serve as a replacement for civil vital statistics. The care and preservation of these confidential records is a sacred trust.
In 1987, the archdiocesan archives began its publication program of all surname entries in the sacramental registers. To date, Sacramental Records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Volumes 1 - 18 (1718 - 1829) have been published and additional volumes are in preparation. Those simply seeking family information can frequently consult these volumes at a local library and thus save the expense of a search/certificate fee. If a record does not appear under the family surnames and surname variations listed in these volumes, it is not found in the archives. Early records that do not include a surname are not included in these volumes.
The archives publication program has been underway since 1987. When completed, the bound volumes will include all surname entries in the sacramental registers of the archdiocese.
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FEES
- Fees must accompany all requests, according to the schedule below. Exact fees should be included, as the Archives does not provide refunds. Excess fees will be considered a donation.
- Each request is answered with an English certificate or, if the record is not found, a Record Search verification form.
- There is no charge for a baptismal, confirmation or marriage certificate requested for sacramental purposes.
- All checks or money orders should be made payable to: ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW ORLEANS.
- A stamped, self-addressed envelope must accompany each request. Failure to include the SASE may result in delay of processing the request.
| Individual Certificate (in English) | $12.00 each |
| Second copy of same certificate | $3.00 each |
| Sacramental Record for Social Security, Medicare, passport, etc. | $15.00 each |
ACCURACY
The archives staff does not guarantee the accuracy of the information recorded in the sacramental registers. Each archdiocesan certificate carries the following notation: "The entry was recorded as a sacramental record and is not a vital statistic. This certificate faithfully reproduces information contained in the original entry, but does not certify the accuracy of the information in this entry."
PRIORITY
Requests for current sacramental records needed for confirmation, marriage, Social Security, or Medicare purposes are given preferential treatment. All other requests require 3 - 5 weeks for response.
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